A newly recorded Rickettsia of the Torix group is a recent intruder and an endosymbiont in the whitefly Bemisia tabaci

Abstract

Summary The bacterium Rickettsia is found widely in phytophagous insects and often exerts profound effects on the phenotype and fitness of its hosts. Here, we decrypt a new, independent, phylogenetically ancient Torix Rickettsia endosymbiont found constantly in a laboratory line of an economically important insect Asia II 7, a putative species of the Bemisia tabaci whitefly complex (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), and occasionally in field whitefly populations. This new Rickettsia distributes throughout the body of its whitefly host. Genetically, compared to Rickettsia_ bellii_MEAM1 found earlier in whiteflies, the new Rickettsia species has more gene families and pathways, which may be important factors in shaping specific symbiotic relationships. We propose the name ‘ Candidatus Rickettsia_Torix_ Bemisia_tabaci (RiTBt)’ for this new endosymbiont associated with whiteflies. Comparative genomic analyses indicate that RiTBi may be a relatively recent intruder in whiteflies given its low abundance in the field and relatively larger genome compared to Rickettsia _bellii_MEAM1.

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